In the early days of the Roman Empire, gladiators were enslaved peoples, criminals, or prisoners of war brought to the arena in chains. But by the first century A.D., being a gladiator had become ...

The gladiator helmet I’ve just put on ... and bronze ornaments found across the Roman world. Nearly every sizable city and town had an arena of its own, with about 300 documented from Britain ...

A skeleton recovered from an intriguing Roman ... but had spinal issues due to overloading his back and inflammation of his lungs and thighs. The man was likely a bestarius, or a gladiator that ...

Diet-related bone chemistry tests indicated that these men had grown up in different parts of the Roman empire, perhaps before entering gladiator training. Most had been decapitated after death ...

Italian archaeologists recently unearthed ancient Roman tombs during the excavation of a necropolis – including one bearing the epitaph of a gladiator ... an ancient Roman helmet turned up ...

Now archaeologists have found the first physical evidence of a gladiator locked in combat ... such as lions and cheetahs, that had been used in Roman gladiatorial shows. They also chemically ...

At last, proof of classical combat between man and beast has been found in the form of a skeleton from a Roman settlement in Britain. It is the first direct evidence of a gladiator mauled by a lion.

The skeleton was excavated and examined from one of the best-preserved gladiator graveyards ... these sporting events had a far reach, well beyond the centre of core Roman territories.